I'm South African male, aged 22, here in the United States on a B1/B2 tourist visa.
I have been coming to the states since the age of 18, and recently got married to an American citizen.
We have been married now for over a year, and together for nearly 3 years. We rent a home in Florida, we own (and financed) a truck,
etc etc.
I had not yet gone through the green card process, as it has not been a necessity due to all the travelling I do for my work.
However, I do have a US certified hunting license, as I went up to Wyoming for a week with my father in law.
I then proceeded to purchase a firearm from a dealer, for both my wife and I. (a beautiful pair of Sig Sauer mosquitos)
This purchase went off without a hitch, I waited my 5 days, picked it up and went on my merry way.
Now, our house was nearly broken into a few weeks back, while my wife and I were home. The perpetrators heard me load my lil' 22LR mosquito and still fled.
After this incident, I decided we needed an actual self defense home weapon, instead of a cheap plinker.
I then purchased a shotgun (Mossy 500 persuader) and a S&W SD40VE, now, here comes the predicament......
I am now going through my greencard process, and as such I had to renew my Florida drivers license as it had expired. The DMV gave me the temporary permit and my expired license to use as a substitute while I wait for my new DL in the mail.
It has been more than 30 days, and still no DL from the DMV, and the FFL I had my firearms transferred to will not give me my guns without the actual new DL card in hand, even though I have the 100% legal and viable alternative (valid temp license with the old expired one) in hand.
All my other paperwork is in order and has been approved.
Now, I spoke to the DMV yesterday, and apparently, my DL has not even printed yet!!!
I don't mind waiting for my guns, but 3 weeks is a bit much. And who knows how much longer I'll have.
Does anyone have any experience in this matter, or any advice you can offer me?
It feels like I'm being judged like a terrorist, when all I want to do is shoot clays on the weekend and keep my family safe at home...
I can't wait to have my greencard so I can get my CWP (which I have already completed all the training etc) and never have to deal with this again..
When I come in on my B1/B2 it's usually for 6 months at a time.
Also, I pay all my utilities all the time, so there's evidence of me residing in the state for more than 90 days.
Also, I've had four drivers licenses here in Florida, each for the length of time my I-94 is valid for, so as I said earlier- 6 months generally.
This is the longest wait I've ever had for my DL, usually it arrives in +-10 days...
Would you think it's taking longer, as Homeland Security is now reviewing my green card petition, or the fact that I already own a weapon is throwing up a red flag ( even though I got the gun legally through a dealer and all the good stuff)
I'm a patriot for my new country, I've signed up for selective service, I have plans to join the Armed Forces when I'm legal to do so, I buy all American made items wherever possible. My entire family in law is all ex police, CBP and Marine Corps etc and I respect, and thank everyone who protects this wonderful country that most know as "the land of opportunity"
Now, I have absolutely no problem waiting for my guns, my question here is would my current ownership of a weapon be throwing up a red flag, and am I able to pick up my guns with the valid temp permit, passport, hunting license etc (all the required info I was asked for when I signed all the documentation)?

Anand, nothing against you personally, but how difficult would it be for a U.S. citizen living in India to purchase a handgun in India as you did here? I feel that the U.S. ought to regulate alien gun purchases here as they would be reciprocal in the alien's country of origin. That would only be fair.

jared1, you dredged up a 12 year old thread, you must have good google-fu.

It sounds like you have the residence part of this nailed, what you are missing is the US or state government issued ID with 4 key items: name, residence address, date of birth and a photo. I assume your temporary permit is missing one of those, and I assume your passport is not a US passport. So your FFL cannot transfer to you even if he wanted to.

No idea why your license renewal is taking so long, but I doubt anyone even knows you are a current owner. No registration in FL, right?

Finally got my guns!!!
Had them transferred back to the original purchasing company (Shoot Straight WPB) and took the long drive up there to collect them- with my temp driving permit!
I really recommend the guys at Shoot Straight, they were phenomenal in helping me get my guns asap after transfer, and gave me a heap of free stuff for my troubles!
I will definitely be taking my business to them in the future.

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